Memooshka
December 9th, 2005
“What’s a meme?” I ask somebody, who happens to also be me.
“It’s a cross between me and a mime,” says me, and we laugh and laugh and laugh and slap our own two thighs. We have a good time together, me and me. We are never bored with each other. It’s a solid relationship.
I’ve been thinking about these meme things. I’ve been a little resistant, a little anxious. Ignorance will do that to you. I thought meme rhymed with phlegm. Apparently, no. Rhymes with dream. Preferable to phlegm, but still.
It’s not about mimes, like I originally thought. Well, it’s sort of about mimes. You answer the same questions that everybody else is answering. It’s like a game of Tag combined with Truth or Dare, just online.
If you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, don’t feel bad. I don’t even know what I’m talking about.
Here’s a paragraph about memes for us new kids, plucked just for you from the cyberspace community garden: Yes. Right here. Click and learn. I could have linked to Wikipedia, but their meme entry reads like a philosophical dissertation, and as I always say, who needs that sort of thing when there are dirty diapers fermenting under the couch and dogs who need their phenobarbital.
But still, I’ve got memes on the brain. In Bloggerville, everybody’s tagging each other and meme-ing it up like gangbusters and making lists about the last ten potato-based foodstuffs they’ve consumed, or lists of where they were and what they were doing on each Groundhog’s Day since 1975.
I get very nervous when I think about these things.
Everybody’s doing it. I kind of don’t want to meme, but I kind of do want to meme. It reminds me of 1984, when all the girls I knew were spraying large quantities of Sun-In on their heads in hopes of becoming sun-kissed Christie Brinkleys. I figured the Sun-In wasn’t a very good idea, but I did it anyway and turned my dark brown hair into a very unbecoming shade of Harvest Pumpkin.
This is my own meme concept: I will make a nice list about stuff I think about sometimes and then you get to guess what the questions are. Like Meme Jeopardy. I gave you a few linky hints, none of which you will probably care about in the least. But at least I will be able to say I made up my own meme and tagged myself.
2. The Verizon Can You Hear Me Now Guy
4. “The railroad to nowhere” and “Adequate, but not astonishing”
5. W12
6. Halifax
7. The toilet after he left the seat up
8. Monica, right after #7
9. Swans, IVs, sarcasm, teenage boys
and
11. WAX 101
There you have it! Completely useless trivia, rendered more useless by format!
***JenfromBoston over at Once More…With Feeling was the first one to tag me, so I feel especially close to her now. You never forget your first meme tag. Of course, I’m still too shy to actually answer hers.
Entry Filed under: Uncategorized, Scribbles. (Writing & Art)
43 Comments
1. jennifer | December 9th, 2005 at 12:53 pm
nobody’s ever tagged me for anything. on one hand, i think, ‘i wanna do that!’ but on the other, i know i won’t. just too much listing.
so, i’d like #2 for $50 please. who is the most annoying guy on tv right now?
2. geogirl | December 9th, 2005 at 1:22 pm
Was this written in english because I didn’t understand any of it?
What the heck I’ll play along anyway…who needs comprehension.
I’ll take #8….oh, I’m not answering it. I’m just requesting that it be done to me.
3. Katieface | December 9th, 2005 at 1:37 pm
Do family members get to play?
4. the Mater | December 9th, 2005 at 1:40 pm
GEO!!!!!!!! We need a counseling session!!
As Jenn’s mater, I think I know the answers and probably could supply the questions to: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and most of 9!
Am I allowed to answer jennifer above who ventures: “the most annoying guy on TV right now” for #2 as her answer … jennifer above, this guy actually was in a stage play with my daughter in NYC before Fate smiled and he got his Verizon contract and many, many cranberry storm doors by now. Just shows to go you … how fickle Lady Fate can be!
Why him, not Jenn … wandering through airports and city streets and football stadiums with a cell phone to her ear, anxiously inquiring “Can you hear me now?” Instead, Jenn gets to wander the blogosphere pondering the same question: “Can you hear me now?” but, alas, there’s no cranberry storm door as a reward.
Peace, the Mum Bear
5. the Mater | December 9th, 2005 at 1:41 pm
Oh, adored and adorable daughter-in-law, YES … join in! I bet you pick the Swan story :>)
6. nicole | December 9th, 2005 at 1:41 pm
I came to your blog through a cyberpath…ukemochi - dooce - finslippy - you - and I had to comment because I was only just yesterday wondering what in the hell a meme was. I even wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget to ask myself again later.
I love your post and your response to being tagged. I can only hope and pray to the goddess of pointless lists that include too much personal information that I will someday be lucky enough to be tagged!
7. jennifer | December 9th, 2005 at 1:44 pm
on memes: the funniest explanation (peppered with stories of flailing whale penises - NO JOKE) is in christopher moore’s book “fluke.” i highly recommend it. not just for the whale penises, but for the exploration of the nature of memes.
8. karina | December 9th, 2005 at 1:48 pm
I’m not sure if I’m doing this “meme” thing right (once again, total ignorance about the blogosphere), but I do know the answers to a couple of the questions. As someone who has known Jenn for a while, am I allowed to play? Oh, what the hell, here we go: #1: Where Jenn & David got married. #3: The town where Jenn taught English to Hungarian high school students circa 1992. #4: The comments some mean, foolish playwriting instructor from EST made regarding one of Jenn’s plays (sadly enough, inspired a little bit by my family). #9: Things Jenn hates and/or fears. I hope I responded correctly!
9. Jenn | December 9th, 2005 at 1:49 pm
Okay, Ma, I think you’re disqualified. Behave yourself over there. You’ll give away my Social Security Number and bra size if I don’t keep a close eye on you.
Take a timeout and go think of a title for your blog, Missy.
But she’s right about the Verizon Guy. We were in a terrible play together in NYC. I don’t begrudge the fella his recent success. After what we were forced to endure on that stage, we all deserve long-running spokesperson gigs on TV.
10. the Mater | December 9th, 2005 at 1:52 pm
Gad, I have to agree with Geogirl … this is becoming quite esoteric! And there goes my appetite for lunch after jennifer’s #7 post … many women prefer a good cigar to be just a good cigar!
11. Jenn | December 9th, 2005 at 1:52 pm
Damn, Karina, you’re good. I made it too easy. Next round will have to be way more obscure.
But if anyone gets #11, I’ll poo myself.
12. the Mater | December 9th, 2005 at 1:55 pm
Jenn, I swear - I can hardly remember my own social security number let alone yours! And the bra size?! Let’s be honest here … it fluctuates more than the daily stock market :>) Polish genes and all that ….
13. the Mater | December 9th, 2005 at 1:57 pm
How come Karina gets high praise and a pat on the back but I get “mom, behave yourself”?!
14. karina | December 9th, 2005 at 2:07 pm
Sorry, Mater! I know you have WAY more of the answers than I do–it must be tough to be censored. But if you had your OWN blog…
Jenn, I hope no one does get the answer to #11–it sounds like you already have enough poo in your life.
15. Jenn | December 9th, 2005 at 2:07 pm
Because Karina knows that what happens in Meme Club, stays in Meme Club.
16. JenfromBoston | December 9th, 2005 at 2:21 pm
Jenn, this is actually a really interesting twist. How original.
Is “Monica after #7″ anything to do with the show friends (where she shows Chandler that there are 7 errongenous zones on a woman’s body? And #7 is the end all be all if you catch my drift. “SEVEN! SEVEN! SEVEN! SEVEN! SEVEN!” so, is the answer “Relaxed”? or “Happy” or uh, um, “laid”?
Sorry, I’m grasping at straws here but this is what came to my mind.
17. Jenn | December 9th, 2005 at 2:24 pm
Ooh! Intriguing! I think you and Geogirl are of the same mind. Sadly, this Monica was related to my #7 about the toilet.
18. Katieface | December 9th, 2005 at 2:25 pm
I’ll be nice and just answer #5…
W12 is the area of London Jenn lived in while attending Grinnell-in-London. Gotta love Shepards Bush
At least your landlord’s name wasn’t Lord Inchbald–that’s what you get when you live in SW1. Ah, how I miss him so.
19. Katieface | December 9th, 2005 at 2:30 pm
Oops, can’t spell (or write). Shepherds Bush, that is. 2 kids, another on the way. No brain cells left.
20. Jenn | December 9th, 2005 at 2:30 pm
Lord Inchbald. Inexplicably, that turns me on.
21. the Mater | December 9th, 2005 at 2:36 pm
God, I thought it was Monica and the White House scandal! “Friends” seems tamer after that … but, obviously, we’re all wrong so far.
Oops, am I banned from playing?! And why wouldn’t everything stated here stay here in the Meme Club?! Gosh, who(m) else would I tell?!!
22. Katieface | December 9th, 2005 at 2:39 pm
Should we add a “bunny-eared-you-know-what” to your Christmas package? If you ever saw Lord Inchbald you’d know how desperate you sound.
23. the Mater | December 9th, 2005 at 2:50 pm
Hey, whatever turns you on … maybe Jenn and David should get a babysitter and find a cozy inn in the Vermont mountains where they can play “Landlord” :>)
24. tracy | December 9th, 2005 at 2:58 pm
#6 — is your daughter named after halifax? conceived there, maybe?
and #11 — i KNOW that one of the bloggers i regularly read wrote once about her disappointment that she never had wax in her ears, and thus never knew the satisfaction of a good q-tipping. was that you or am i just too excited at the thought that i might know one of the questions?
i also think the question to number seven should be “where was the last place you fell?” because that would be my answer.
25. ryann | December 9th, 2005 at 3:09 pm
Katieface has another baby on the way?!?
What exciting things one can learn through a meme (even a reverse-Jeopardy like one!)
I may or may not have the same affliction. heh heh
26. Spot the Wonder Dog | December 9th, 2005 at 3:11 pm
OK OK, here, let me see how many I can get… let’s see… stuff Jenn thinks about sometimes…
1. “That vending machine in the cafeteria had the best egg-salad sandwiches I’ve ever gotten from a vending machine. And while the reception *was* nice, the hour we rented in that room in East Flatbush for our Honeymoon was even better.”
2. About last night, in retrospect, screaming “YES!!!! I can HEAR you now!” during the throes of passion may not have been very good for David’s self esteem.
3. I don’t think my family with ever live down the shame of having left our home country merely because we could never spell our town name correctly.
4. In light of #2, I probably should have been a little more charitable with the pillow talk afterwards.
5. “This is the last time we let Sophie be the caller in Bingo.”
6. What did eminem name his daughter?
7. After an hour searching the house and grounds, in what household appliance did David find Hallie trapped last night?
8. Who else became trapped into toilet last night, requiring the fire department to extricate her through the creative use of cooking oil and a turkey baster?
9. While recouperating in the ambulance after #8, Monica was attacked by _________, who pulled out her __________, her pleas for help were met with _________ by both the ambulance staff and the neighborhood onlookers, and the entire incident was recorded on a camera phone by __________.
10. Though David warned me not to eat the mushrooms I found growing in the yard, my fondness for organic food won out. Later that evening, David tells me I frightened the children when I held them down for 20 minutes and stared at their eyes, though what I remember seeing was ____________.
11. Having recently learned of the exciting career opportunities in the field of cosmotology, I have enrolled part time at our local beauty school. Tonight, I’ll be asking David to be my subject for my homework assignment in my first course, ___________.
27. bee | December 9th, 2005 at 3:19 pm
All right, let’s just take a wild guess. WAX 101—-ear candles?
28. Rebecca | December 9th, 2005 at 4:20 pm
Wait… it really doesn’t rhyme with phlegm?
29. geogirl | December 9th, 2005 at 4:34 pm
Wait a minute! That Monica thing wasn’t about the Friends episode with the erogenous zones……well, Eww! I take back my answer. Unless…you have some kind of kinky roll play thing going on with the toilet. And seriously…what is it with you and poop?!?!?
As for #11 I was going to suggest some sort of Bikini waxing accident.
30. roo | December 9th, 2005 at 5:20 pm
JenFromBoston must be feeling pretty macho, tagging all these first-timers! (g)
But how does Richard Dawkins fit into all of this?
31. JenfromBoston | December 9th, 2005 at 5:30 pm
really, I had no idea y’all were a bunch “virgins who can’t drive” (quick, name that movie) .
I didn’t know what a Meme was either although because I am wicked smart, was able to get the gist by context.
That said, I’d like it better if we could call it something else less geeky- Like, on the drew carey show - you know that Mimi?. Say if you get tagged you get “The Screaming Mimis” (blue eye shadow optional).
Thank you for your consideration.
P.S. I blame VH-1 for make us a list-happy nation.
32. TRF | December 9th, 2005 at 6:48 pm
#6 Halifax (along with Thunder Bay): pre-natally considered nomenclature for the first-born (eventually “Sophia Mary Rose”)
33. elizabeth | December 9th, 2005 at 6:52 pm
i thought it was “Me-Me”
ok. so do we get to see the questions, o wise one?
34. Mrs. Coulter | December 9th, 2005 at 7:17 pm
One Center Street is where you got married. I’m guessing that, because that’s where *we* got married.
35. Contary | December 9th, 2005 at 9:52 pm
I had none of your anxiety about Memes. I wanted in, baby! I just sorta jumped in on a general memeing. Like 5 minutes ago. Aren’t you glad to know you aren’t the only meme newbie?
As to your questions. Yeah,I don’t know. Sorry bout that.
36. Jenn | December 10th, 2005 at 12:49 am
To tell you the truth, Spot’s responses are way more interesting…
1. One Centre Street, NYC. Where did I get hitched? (Go, Mrs. Coulter! There should be a T-shirt for this.)
2. The Verizon Can You Hear Me Now Guy. Who do I know that I have trouble believing that I know? (Yes, whom, I know. Again, the prissiness factor. Bend to my will.)
3. Satoraljaujhely. Where did I teach English for a year and learn how to make chicken paprikas? (This is the one thing I really rock the kitchen with.)
4. “The railroad to nowhere” and “Adequate, but not astonishing.” What are the two most unhelpful pieces of creative feedback I have ever received? (Served up by two old meanies who are unaware of the emotional scar tissue they left behind in my brain.)
5. W12. What is the postal code I lived in in London? (Shep Bush Rox! Excellent work, Katieface.)
6. Halifax. What did I originally want to name my firstborn daughter? (No, I have not been to Halifax. Yes, Thunder Bay was a top candidate as well.)
7. The toilet after he left the seat up. What did I fall into—and get stuck in—in kindergarten after a little boy committed a heinous offense? (Currently Sophie’s favorite story.)
8. Monica, right after #7. What is the name of the nice little girl who pulled me out of the toilet? (I spend far too much time wondering where she is today. I spend far too much time wondering where everyone I have ever known is today. Who wonders where I am today, damn it? I would give up the dream of the cranberry storm door to know the answer to that question.)
9. Swans, IVs, sarcasm, teenage boys. What scares the poo out of me? (Not that it takes much to find poo around here, I agree with that comment completely.)
10. Big rainbow-colored light-up eggs that rolled around on white lilypad things when you stepped on large circles. What is something that, to this day, I am not sure really existed, or if I just remember it from a childhood dream? (I swear that I saw this thing at the Franklin Institute in Philly when I was a wee lass, but I can find no one, NO ONE, to corroborate this story. Please tell me that you saw the wobbling psychedelic eggs. Please. What is this blog for, if not for that?)
and
11. WAX 101. What was the license plate number of the boy who stomped my poor trusting heart to bloody little bits of pulp very early on in my college dating career? (It is things like #11 that waste valuable brain space and make me long to undergo a few Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind procedures to air things out up there.)
Told you Spot’s were more interesting.
37. Sara | December 10th, 2005 at 1:39 am
I like Elizabeth’s interpetation… “Me-Me” is a pretty accurate description of most memes.
38. kris | December 11th, 2005 at 9:34 pm
Jenn, if you can wait until we have our journey to the franklin institute, I’ll get the answer to #10 for you.
39. the Mater | December 12th, 2005 at 11:25 am
Jenn and kris, I just remember the human heart exhibit, not the lilypads. Jenn, you weren’t sniffing your Elmer’s glue, were you?!
Mum
40. ryann | December 12th, 2005 at 5:58 pm
So…was WAX 101 a vanity plate, or did it just stick in your mind to torment you because it was unusual?
The plight of the liberal arts college dating scene — you are surrounded by sensitive new age guys who(m) you are sure will never stomp on your heart. And then they do.
41. geogirl | December 12th, 2005 at 7:42 pm
Take heart Jenn…maybe Mr. WAX 101 will somehow stumble across this blog and feel the sudden wrath of 40+ people who instantly despise him and spit upon his name.
42. Spot the Wonder Dog | December 12th, 2005 at 8:09 pm
“you are surrounded by sensitive new age guys…”
I believe the word you’re looking for is “Hippies”.
43. Gilly Rosenthol | December 20th, 2005 at 6:05 pm
I remember the Franklin Institute well, but alas, no light-up eggs. Either you hallucinated — er, dreamed them, or they were after my time. (I’m 35, don’t know when you used to go.) But that walk-through heart scared the crap out of me. Did some Poe fan come up with that?
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